The Thousand-Year Graveyard

William ScherlisArchaeologists dug up two skeletons, probably of monks, near this ancient wall.Adapted from Francesco Coschino, from the archives of the State of LuccaA 16th century map shows Badia Pozzeveri near the shore of a now-drained lake.Stefano Campana/University of SienaToday, the church itself is mostly abandoned.

The Burials Begin (1039 to 1300 C.E.)

One afternoon while the students ate lunch, University of Pisa archaeologist Antonio Fornaciari gave a tour of the trenches, pointing to a freshly excavated stone wall beneath an asphalt parking lot in area 4000 (see graphic, below). In the 12th and 13th centuries, this wall ran along the inner sanctum of the monastery (see video of church, below). Monks of the Camaldolese branch of the Benedictine order lived here, surrounded by a tall wall and moat, at the edge of marshes and oak woods, according to the town’s official history.

In this courtyard, the team found two partial skeletons, buried between 1200 C.E. and 1300 C.E. in a place of honor that suggests they were monks. The anthropologists are now examining their remains to answer a key question: Did monks have better health than farmers or peasants?

Stature is one clue to health, and most medieval Europeans were short. European men averaged 167 centimeters in the Middle Ages (compared with 178 cm today), and shrank by 5.4 cm by the end of the period. The team thinks that with the rise in population, more people competed for food and resources. The bones at Badia Pozzeveri could confirm a trend toward scarcer food and worse health as the Middle Ages progressed.

Francesco CoschinoA partial skeleton was buried in the Middle Ages inside the courtyard of Badia Pozzeveri, in a place of honor that suggests he was a monk.

Adapted from Francesco CoschinoOver 1000 years, people were buried in different areas around the church as graveyards filled up. The church complex evolved from its medieval heyday (transparent blue) to a smaller church (gray) and outer buildings (green). C.Smith/ScienceThe church at Pozzeveri was a rest stop for medieval pilgrims walking along the Via Francigena. Some took this route all the way to Canterbury Cathedral in England, and many diseases, including plague, traveled with them.

The bones could also show whether monks were exceptions. Historical records suggest that monks did eat better than peasants—and that both had poorer diets than nobles. To begin the analysis, Vercellotti laid out the leg bones of one monk on a table in the makeshift lab inside the church, below a ceiling covered with faded frescoes. He measured the lengths of thighbone and shinbone and made a “very preliminary” height estimate of 165 to 170 cm. A better estimate might give him a clue to the monks’ status: High-status medieval men buried in one churchyard in northern Italy averaged 171 cm, while lower status men averaged 164 cm, according to a study he published in 2011 in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. The team has also dug up the likely remains of peasants, probably dating from the 11th century—two poorly preserved skeletons found outside the wall—and they’re hoping for more.

Pilgrims also passed right by the church as they followed the main highway of the Middle Ages, the Via Francigena or “road that comes from France.” Knights, clerics, and peasants all traveled this route (see locator map, above), leaving traces such as two rare Islamic jugs from North Arabia, found in the cloister this summer. With the travelers came new diseases. Leprosy, for example, may have arrived from the Middle East with the Crusaders. It swept into Tuscany in the 12th century, when four leprosariums sprang up in the area, including one run by the monks. The pilgrims probably also spread many diseases including smallpox, measles, tuberculosis (TB), and typhus.

Those are just the sort of infectious company that Hendrik Poinar seeks. An ancient DNA expert at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, he jumped at the rare chance get DNA from pathogens over time in a single location. He wants to see how many diseases people of each period had to combat and how fast pathogens evolved in different conditions, such as famine and war.

One morning, as Poinar watched, Vercellotti and a graduate student laid out one skull after another on a long table. Poinar looked at the excellently preserved teeth in a freshly excavated jaw. Teeth are a promising source of ancient DNA. “This is it—this is what we came for,” he said.

“Dig in,” said Vercellotti, holding a skull steady. Poinar adjusted his facemask, pulled up his rubber gloves, and yanked a tooth out of a jaw with pliers. “Skilled dentistry,” he joked. If he does get DNA from these teeth, he’ll test it for everything from leprosy to plague to TB.

About the Black patina on tooth enamel. Is it mainly on occlusal surfaces? Do you think it may have to do with mercury treatment? I have studied 16th and 17th century burial ground from Turku Finland with two cases of syphilis and a few individuals with blackish colored occlusal surfaces of enamel. I was thinking could it be stains of mercury. I can send you a photo, if this sounds familiar or interesting.

Ann Gibbons

Yes, it is a result of the mercury treatment for syphilis.

Carl Ottersen

Thank you all for this. I know the region quite well but not this place. I must come and visit one day when back in Italy. Always great to see innovative work matched by an excellent presentation. Looking forward to seeing more.

Bob

Is there any sensitivity that these folks are digging up peoples’ remains, and joking about sound dentistry??

C S Thompson

I agree. I wonder where we are to draw the line when it comes to disturbing the graves of the dead. (I am referring to the remains of the graves discovered to be from the 1800s–which are certainly not ‘ancient’) I surely would not want my ancestors dug up and studied after they were laid to rest. I understand that scientific research and study is important but at what point do we say, enough?

shrao

I believe the legal position in most jurisdictions is that if there is a documentary record (e.g., of burial and identity) and present heirs with an interest in their ancestors’ remains, these are handled respectfully. But if there is no record, and no living person or group claiming the remains as forebears, people can do what they want. I don’t know about Italy, but in the US and elsewhere, skeletons and such that get in the way of construction projects are just discarded as trash (the people who find them may be enlightened enough to consult an archeologist or notify the government first, but this is not legally required and does not always happen).

Meg

the specific area they are talking about had known burial records. they contacted any existing members before excavation. also the community is very involved and supportive of the excavation.

AQ

Just to say that this is very common work all over the planet, I don’t understand why this site is cited here in Science news while tens of excavations of this exact kind are done every year by archaelogist of all historical and prehistorical periods… Ancient DNA? Disease identification? Health over the centuries? Everyday work for hundred of anthropologists in many labs…

porkchop

this article is very badly in need of copy editing, does anybody read this stuff before it’s published? I refer to the print version, dont know if the online version is as bad.

Steven Lang

While it is true that this type of work is going on in many parts of the world, this presentation is beautifully done so as to make it more accessible to non experts. It is important for scientists to get the general public interested in their work, and I think this multi-media exercise is great. Well done.

what with C.E. ??? Please go back to the NORMAL usual way of noting the years……BC and AD !!!

Mairead

“BC” and “AD” are not “normal” or “usual” any more, they’re outdated and parochial. The current, cross-cultural notation is B(efore)C(ommon)E(ra) and C(ommon)E(ra).

Not everyone organises dates based on the supposed (and even then incorrect) birth year of a semi-mythological individual.

Ed

who wrote this crap? The English is appalling.

Ann Gibbons

I did.

LB

I think you did an excellent job and I really enjoyed reading this article. When I got to the end, I felt like I just watched a movie with an incredible cliffhanger and now I have to wait to find out how it ends.

Booger T. Wang

Nothing more than modern day state sponsored grave robbers they are. I have family who died in the 1790′s and 1800′s whose graves have been desecrated by these “university” ghouls. They learn nothing that isn’t already known. Nothing but “Grant Money babies” and “State sponsored publishing”…which almost no one ever reads.

Baah!

Ann Gibbons

In this case, the paleoanthropologists and archaeologists have met extensively with the local people whose ancestors are buried here. The local people want them there, partly because Italians are fascinated by their history and heritage and see the archaeology as a way to draw tourists to their medieval church, which they are proud of. It’s also falling apart and the team of scientists has agreed to restore it at the end, so they’ll have a church back. A win-win for everyone here. And besides, the archaeologists and anthropologists on this team (and who I know elsewhere) are all sensitive to the impact of what they’re doing on local people and work with them from the start of their projects. Besides, there are laws that make that happen now anyway. These are NOT grave robbers.

I cannot believe that in 2014 it is still possible to see excavation photos with archaeologists/anthropologists not wearing gloves/masks! At some point ancient DNA always comes into play in these studies and yet it seems that archaeologists and anthropologists are never given a pair of powder free latex gloves and a face mask…

Despite the consent of the descendant/local community, it is doubtful that a 13th century monk would have consented to have his remains disinterred and his teeth unceremoniously yanked out. What will be done with the excavated remains when the project concludes? Will the remains be reinterred?